i channeled my car a little while back and didnlt really take any pictures...i now have the body apart so i thought id take some pictures and explain how i went about it...first i took 2 inch 1/8 thick anlge and layed it ontop of the frame rails..welded the angle in and welded 2 smaller peices across the center cross member to locate the body once its done. next i marked the subrails to cut so that they slip over the frame i welded cross braces flush on the bottom of the subrails including a big X to keep them square when i cut the center out i cut it out then slide the subrails up from the bottom and clamp thje bracing to the frame so that your channel job is now the exact depth of the frame next i reversed angle and cut it to fit into the indentation in the subrails and weld to the anlge that i built on the frame after this was all tacked i built a box frame to go up paralell to the step in my frame then stepped back down and attached to the rear of the body channels then i just cut out the rails where they would hit the axle finally i added a few cross braces up over my frame kick trim all body supports to fit and trim the edge of the cowl post brace so it has a flush weld with the reversed angle in the front...ive still got to do the firewall mounts and cowl side pannel's but this gives a good idea of a quick way to do it...i had the car channeled in a few days when it was a coupe...but then i cut everything back apart and shortened it 3 inches for how i decided i wanted it as a roadster so thats where im at now ...redoing everything to make it a roadster i hope this makes sence zach
good job...there's almost no explanation neccessary with those pics, i remember doing that to mine, not quite the way you did it but i got the job done, those pics are the current state of the vehicle now? any other pics? keep up the good work man, mike
Is that piece of angle welded to the frame permanent. I see that its holding the body up. Or is it temporary until you put the floor back in the car? Nice picts and great Tech. thanks
thanks for the compliments...thats the car as of this afternoon....since then i welded in braces to space the cowl posts square to the quarters and started making the cowl side pannel mounts...the angle is a big frame of its own that just sits down over the actual A frame...im going to put bolts down through and a thin layer of rubber...1/8 inch to keep it from squeeking...because im putting roadster cowl posts onto the coupe body im running into a few measuremnt changes...height of top body line and also the depth of the actual posts ..if i line up the rivets it shortens the doors 1/4 inch but thats ok because i was planning to shorten the doors 3 inches anyways so whats another 1/4...thats all i can think of now zach
oh and the floor will be just a peice of aluminum or stainless that im going to put in with aircraft rivets so im building the angle to have its own support and the floor just to be so you donlt fall through...not have the floor support the body at all
The car looks great but how are you gonna get the body off again , should you need to? We channelled loads of bodies but always ensure that the body will come off again as you never know !! Not criticising , just curious Thanks
the body is built on its own frame that slips down over the actual frame...the braces i welded underneath were cut out after i did the top...so it all lifts straight up ...sorry for the confusion zach